Likutay Moharan - Volume 2 - Torah-teaching 77

Likutay Moharan II Torah 77: Know That Every One of Israel Must Have Some Sorrow Each Day

Know that every one of Israel, even a great tzadik [righteous one], must have some sorrow each day. Also, one whose knowledge is greater has greater sorrow, in the aspect of: “He who increases knowledge increases pain” (Ecclesiastes 1:18). The sweetening is through eating in holiness and with fear of Heaven. That is, through eating in holiness, through this, sweetening is achieved, so that the sorrow does not overpower excessively, Heaven forbid, and also so that there is no extension from the sorrow, Heaven forbid, an extension to the sitra achara [other side], which is harsh judgment, Heaven forbid. Through this, meaning through eating in holiness, through which sweetening is achieved, as mentioned above, through this, the mouth becomes the aspect of the stature of man, in the aspect of: “Who has placed a mouth for man” (Exodus 4:11). That is, it makes and places the mouth in the aspect of the stature of man. For one whose eating is not in holiness, Heaven forbid, his mouth is literally in the aspect of an animal. But when he eats in holiness, then he places the mouth as that of a man, such that the mouth becomes the aspect of the stature of man, as mentioned above. For the essence of fear [yirah] comes to a person specifically at the time of eating, in the aspect of: “At the time of eating, come here” (Ruth 2:14) [as we have discussed this elsewhere, above in Torah 7, section 10]. “Here” [halom] refers only to malchus [kingship] (Zevachim 102a), which is the aspect of fear [yirah], as it is said (Pirkei Avos, Chapter 3): “If not for the fear of kingship.” Thus, at the time of eating, fear comes to the person [as explained in the teaching “And it was at the end,” that the essence of eating and sustenance is drawn from the aspect of malchus, which is the aspect of fear, see there well]. Therefore, when one eats in holiness and draws upon himself the fear that comes to him at the time of eating, meaning that he eats with fear of Heaven in holiness and purity as is fitting, then he brings the aspect of malchus, which is the aspect of fear, as mentioned above, into the mouth. Then the mouth becomes the aspect of the stature of man, in the aspect of: “Who has placed a mouth for man,” as mentioned above. For when he does not eat in holiness and with fear of Heaven, then the fear that comes at the time of eating, as mentioned above, stands at a distance and does not enter him. But when he eats in holiness and with fear, meaning he draws upon himself the holy fear, as mentioned above, then the aspect of fear, malchus, enters his mouth, and the mouth becomes the aspect of the stature of man, as mentioned above.

In the merit of this, that he eats in holiness and with fear of Heaven and makes from the mouth the stature of man, through this, he merits a greater elevation, that the aforementioned stature of man is elevated and becomes the aspect of the supernal man, in the aspect of: “And upon the throne, a likeness as the appearance of a man upon it from above” (Ezekiel 1:26) (see Zohar, Pinchas 225a). This is the aspect of the supernal man, the aspect of: The Shechinah [Divine Presence] speaks from within his throat, in the aspect of: “Hashem, my lips You shall open” (Psalms 51:17). In the opening of his mouth, it is the aspect of Ad-nai, the aspect of the Shechinah speaking from within his throat. That is, when he makes from the mouth the aspect of the stature of man, then he is in the category of a speaker, for the category of man is speech. But afterward, he merits that the mouth is elevated to the aspect of the supernal man, meaning the aspect of: The Shechinah speaks from within his throat, in the aspect of: “Hashem, my lips You shall open,” as mentioned above.

Regarding the sweetening of sorrow through eating in holiness, know that this extension, that sorrow comes greater to one who is a person of knowledge, in the aspect of: “He who increases knowledge increases pain,” as mentioned above, seems difficult: Why should it be so, that one who increases knowledge increases sorrow, Heaven forbid? But know that this is the aspect of the loop of tefillin [phylacteries]. For “The beginning of wisdom is the fear of Hashem” (Psalms 111:10), and if there is no fear, there is no wisdom (Pirkei Avos, Chapter 3). Therefore, everyone who merits some wisdom and knowledge has fear pass over him as well, for this depends on that, as mentioned above. This is the aspect of the loop of tefillin. For tefillin are the aspect of mochin [intellect], and the strap [retzuah] is the aspect of fear [yirah]. For a fallen strap [retzuah bisha] is fallen fear (Introduction to the Zohar, 11b). So too, the holy fear is the aspect of a holy strap [retzuah dikdushah]. This is the aspect of the strap that passes through the loop of tefillin, meaning the strap, which is fear, passes through the mochin and the tefillin. For “The beginning of wisdom is the fear of Hashem,” as mentioned above. Therefore, every person of Israel who merits each day the aspect of mochin, the aspect of tefillin, has fear pass over him as well, in the aspect of the strap that passes through the loop of tefillin. From this, some sorrow extends and comes to each one each day. The one whose knowledge is greater has greater sorrow, for sorrow extends from fear, and fear is according to the mochin and knowledge, as mentioned above. There is sorrow that comes from holy fear, but there is sorrow that extends, Heaven forbid, until the sorrow comes from the aspect of fallen fears, a fallen strap [retzuah bisha]. Even a person of Israel, when he does not merit, then, Heaven forbid, he has sorrow from a fallen strap, Heaven forbid.

But through eating in holiness, that he eats in holiness and draws upon himself the holy fear at the time of eating that comes and approaches him then, as mentioned above, through this, he sweetens the sorrow and the judgment that comes from a fallen strap, Heaven forbid. For he draws upon himself the holy fear, through which the fallen fears, which are the aspect of a fallen strap, Heaven forbid, are elevated and sweetened. This is the aspect of the statement of our Sages, of blessed memory: A strap went out from the portion of Yehudah to the portion of Binyamin, and over this, that tzadik was sorrowful each day, and he sought to swallow it, and he merited and became a host for the Shechinah (Megillah 26a). Binyamin is the aspect of knowledge [daas], the aspect of mochin, tefillin, for the Beis HaMikdash [Holy Temple] was in the portion of Binyamin (Sifri, Parshas V’Zos HaBracha; Rashi there; Yoma 12a; Sotah 37a; Zevachim 53a, 118b). The Beis HaMikdash is the aspect of knowledge, as our Sages, of blessed memory, said (Berachos 33b): “Whoever has knowledge is as if the Beis HaMikdash was built in his days,” for knowledge is placed between two letters, and the Beis HaMikdash is placed between two letters, and so forth. Yehudah is the aspect of malchus, the aspect of fear [yirah]. This is the strap, meaning the aforementioned strap, the aspect of fear, the aspect of the strap of tefillin that goes out from the portion of Yehudah to the portion of Binyamin. That is, the strap comes from the aspect of the portion of Yehudah, from the aspect of fear, and enters the portion of Binyamin, meaning into the tefillin, mochin, in the aspect of the strap passing through the loop of tefillin, as mentioned above. Over this, that tzadik was sorrowful each day, for from this strap, sorrow comes each day to every one of Israel, and especially to the tzadik whose knowledge is greater, as mentioned above. This is: And he sought to swallow it, meaning he was always seeking and searching to repair and sweeten the sorrow that comes from the aforementioned strap through eating, as mentioned above. And he merited and became a host for the Shechinah, meaning he merited to sweeten the sorrow through eating in holiness and with fear of Heaven, as mentioned above. Through this, he became a host for the Shechinah, meaning the mouth became the aspect of the stature of man. This is the aspect of a host [ushpiza], for Rabbi Yose bar Asyan (Eruvin 53b), when he spoke in the language of wisdom, would say about a host: “This man, this mouth,” meaning a man, this mouth, as Rashi explains: Placed. This is the aspect of: “Who has placed a mouth for man,” that the mouth becomes the stature of man, meaning the aspect of a man, this mouth, that the mouth becomes the aspect of a man, the aspect of the stature of man, as mentioned above. This is: And he became a host for the Shechinah, for through the aforementioned sweetening through eating in holiness, as mentioned above, through this, he merits to make from the mouth the aspect of a man, as mentioned above. Through this, he merits afterward the aspect of the supernal man, the aspect of the Shechinah speaking from within his throat. This is: And he became a host for the Shechinah, that he merited the aspect of: The Shechinah speaks from within his throat, as mentioned above.